Dance NOW! Miami Review : “Timely and poignant, it yearns to be seen and heard”

Dance NOW! Miami is a contemporary dance company established by two international dance artists. The company showcased their new program ‘Contemporanea’ and our Miami correspondent, Diana Dunbar, gives her review:

Dance NOW! Miami took to the stage with a program which honours the past while alsofocusing on problems affecting society today.

Dancers meet, engage with each other, flirt, fall in love, and part;desperately search for a new homeland, they battle with war, unite, struggle for survival and identity. Such was the compelling and superbly performed Contemporanea.

Dance NOW! Miami is one of South Florida’s most dynamic contemporary dance companies. Since it’s founding in 2000, the company hasgrown and expanded its artistic vision. Established by Diego Salterini and Hannah Baumgarten, the Dance NOW! Miami presents master works from the past, as well as contemporary pieces.

Ritmo Jondo

The program opened with Ritmo Jondo (Deep Rhythm), a piece choreographed by the legendary modern dancer and choreographer Doris Humphrey for the Jose LimonDance Company. Ritmo Jondo premiered in 1953 and is a reminder of the power of art that transcends time. Staged by Daniel Lewis, President of Miami Dance Futures, it is a piece of deep beauty.

Dance NOW! Miami

Of Men, Of Women, Of Meeting and Parting

Divided into three parts: Of Men, Of Women, Of Meeting and Parting, Spanish style dances were elegantly executed by Dance NOW! Miami dancers. There is a sense of freedom in the first two sections; of brotherly camaraderie among the men and of sisterly bonding between the women.

Humphrey’s choreography combines the gravitas of modern dance with the exuberance of Spanish folk dances. The final section, Of Meeting and Parting, brings the men and women together toexamine the fluidity of relationships. Dancers pair off and are wrapped in the joy of newly found love – coming together in a colorful, and playful scarf dance. Their celebrationis short lived and we are left with the jolting image of the women moving slowly forwardon their knees as the men depart.

Bridges Not Walls

Making its world premiere, Bridges Not Walls sends a powerful message on current world affairs. Timely and poignant, it’s a piece which yearns to be seen and heard.

Words and images overwhelm as we watch an exodus of groups and learn the stories of individuals. We witness beautiful dance moments set against times of tragedy and despair. The dancers run, respond to each other, and stand alone. With each stretch of an arm and curve of the back we are caught in their plight.Images of places, and faces…Dr King’s famousspeechand the Civil rights movement play out in front of us, faces of mothers and children stir our emotions.

Dance NOW! Miami

A gracefulsoloist performsagainst a multi-media background.A moving duet occurs between a man and woman. They move as strangers traveling the same destitute road. We are confronted, we confront ourselves, the dancers identify themselves – we feel the urgency of their message. With everyturn, each deafening stillness, each decent to the floor, we see a cornucopia of suffering laid out before us. A dancer walks up a human staircase to look beyond. The words of the poet Warsan Shire echo on the stage “…you only leave home when home won’t let you stay.”Building Bridges Not Walls sends a declaration in the mostevocative manner.

Dance NOW! Miami is reaching beyond borders to bring their work to new audiences. Artisticdirectors Salterini and Baumgarten, will join Daniel Lewis in Mexico for a conference and master classes. The Project Coordinator is Monica Montano. The company willperform this program and Salterini and Baumgarten will implement atrue cultural exchange when they teach parts of Ritmo Jondo and Build Bridges Not Walls tolocal dancers.